This is pretty cool basic idea for anyone in need of hot water without all the expense. The product caught my eye because there are so many situations you might need something light enough to use as a temporary solution but the camping hot water bags wont cut it. I am thinking about when we buy our land outside of Portland, something like this would be cool during construction.

Think about how we use hot water everyday to take showers, to do laundry and even to cook our food. Now add up all the cost to make that happen. Over a period of 10 years, you are paying thousands of dollars in energy cost and the up front cost for the system in your house. Now what if you could replace it all for under $150 and carry it in your backpack. Well, that is exactly what this product from SolarStore can do.

Constructed of a heavy duty polymer, the patent pending Solarstore is both robust and flexible, and can be used in a variety of different settings. When deflated, it is small enough to pack into a rucksack, yet can inflate to nearly 2 square meters for maximum solar energy absorption. Used primarily for domestic outdoor applications, solarstore can provide up to 3 full tanks per day attemperatures nearing 80 degrees celcius. This is the equivalent of enough water to wash a car 18 times over, at a temperature hotter than most domestic hot water systems.

Selling for under $150, the inflatable solar collector is not only cheaper than conventional solar hot water systems on the market (compare at $2,000-$3,000), but can also be used in developing countries as well as on camping trips. Solarstore will pay for itself in just 6 months with regular use, whereas your average solar water heater takes over 20 years to pay off! By the time solarstore has paid for its self 10 times over, most others have barely paid off 40% of their purchase cost.

The company says on their site, the product will ship in Spring of 2009 and people can signup for a special launch deal by joining their mailing list. Here is the site: idc.uk.com